Part of the church garden.

It was our fellowship meeting this afternoon, when we heard how one person's husband escaped from the German army. Stan was polish when he was 16 he went to live with his sister and little boy, she apparently was the village post mistress which was about 100 miles from Stan's hometown of Bydgoszcz. The problem arose when the Germans' started to infiltrate Poland, stan, his nephew and sister needed to get back to the rest of the family, but first they had to pack up from the post office all the sensitive documents, this they did and buried it. They then took some possessions and a horse and cart making their way via wooded areas (a much longer route ) to the family home town , this took about a month. When they arrived Stan was arrested , but after a short while was released but forced to work in an electrical instalation. He was then qualified as an electrician ( for the benefit of the Germans ) . When war was declared he was forced to join the German army and put on a train to the German border, he soon made a friend , and undercover at nights they listened to the BBC world service and was able to follow the progress of the war, they soon realised they would be sent to the front to fight! Planning their escape, as soon as was possible they surrendered to the Americans' , these two were in German uniforms which made all involved very suspicious . However they were flown over to Scotland were plans were made for them to join the British army, even down to planning to sent them over to France with false identities etc , however this never happened as "D day" happened before they travelled. Stan meet a girl whilst on holiday in Austria in the fifties ( who m he found out lived near him in London) they got married and had five children and the rest as they say is history. It was such a wonderful story of bravery and very appropriate for the time of year and the commemoration of D DAY. Stan however never saw his father again after he was deported to the German border, his mother lived into the late fifties and he managed to see her several times before her death in1959.

We all need to remember the horrendous danger that so many were in for us to live today. Thank you all for your dedication for us to live in freedom!!